First right of refusal ??

Hi guys

I am now going though the draft contract sent to me ACK Media in India for the publication of my comic in one of their magazines for kids.

There is just one thing I am uncertain about. It is the following condition:

“Further, the first right of refusal for marketing and distributing the work in non-Asia territories (all kinds of media) shall lie with the Company. In such circumstances wherein, the Company exercises its Right to First Refusal, You will engage the Company as a representative to deal with the third party publishers/marketers/distributors. The Revenue in such case would be shared 50-50% between the Company and You. It is further agreed upon that appropriate credits shall be provided to the Company and www.bwmag.in would be mentioned in the credits prominently in all the media where the content is used.”

My understanding of “first right of refusal” was that, if I find another party interested in publishing my work (outside of Asia), I should first get back to ACK Media so they can see if they can match the offer. If not, then I am free to publish.

But now there is this 50-50 share between me and them if I publish someplace else too. Does this sound good?

So, if you create something, they see it first and determine if they want to publish it. That's the "first refusal" part. But then, if they don't want it, they want the right to submit the thing they don't want elsewhere, and take half the money. So they would become like an agent for your work - except getting paid 50% instead of 15%. And they would have precious little incentive to submit your work elsewhere if your second creation would compete for profits with the first... So to me, it looks like they are trying to sneak in language that takes away some of your vital rights to your second work even if they don't buy it.
O.O I'd run it by a lawyer that specializes in this sort of thing. It seems skeevy to me.

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Comments

Paula Richey July 3, 2013 at 8:03am

So, if you create something, they see it first and determine if they want to publish it. That's the "first refusal" part. But then, if they don't want it, they want the right to submit the thing they don't want elsewhere, and take half the money. So they would become like an agent for your work - except getting paid 50% instead of 15%. And they would have precious little incentive to submit your work elsewhere if your second creation would compete for profits with the first... So to me, it looks like they are trying to sneak in language that takes away some of your vital rights to your second work even if they don't buy it.
O.O I'd run it by a lawyer that specializes in this sort of thing. It seems skeevy to me.

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